Chapter 97: The Spider Puppet

Three days and three nights passed in the blink of an eye.

Hundreds of battles had taken place in the battle forum.

With Fu Yunzhao’s example, no one dared challenge Chen Jingzhai.

Chen Jingzhai also saw many astounding disciples in the past hundred rounds.

There were quite a few disciples who caught his eye.

Aside from the disciples of the Three Great Sword Branches, those of Lijian Peak and Dream Celestial Peak were the most worthy of his attention.

They had instantly defeated their opponent and did so in a very short amount of time.

Being Beginning Foundation Plane disciples, the disciples of these two peaks were definitely not inferior to those of the sword branches.

On the morning of the fourth day, however, Chen Jingzhai’s jade token lit up.

It was his turn to appear in the battle forum based on random selection.

This was the first time he had been chosen, and it caught him by surprise.

This was because many Beginning Foundation Plane disciples had yet to take their turn.

From the looks of it, the battle forum was indeed fair.

Chen Jingzhai’s opponent was Song Jiao, a disciple from Puppet Hall of the Heavenly Artisan lineage.

Song Jiao was half a head shorter than Chen Jingzhai, and his arms were as thick as tree trunks.

Like Zhang Kui, Song Jiao wielded a Heavenly Hammer.

Their jade tokens descended into the black and white fish eyes, and the battle commenced.

Song Jiao did not immediately attack.

“Little Master-Uncle, please allow me to summon my puppet before we fight!” requested Song Jiao.

“Alright!” answered Chen Jingzhai with a smile.

He was no stranger to Song Jiao.

The Puppet Hall had very few members to begin with.

Song Jiao was the junior brother of Zhang Kui and frequented Tianyahai Pavilion.

Hence, they were familiar with each other.

Unlike with Fu Yunzhao, Chen Jingzhai patiently waited for Song Jiao to prepare for battle.

Song Jiao summoned a puppet and then leaped onto its back.

He wielded the Heavenly Hammer and smashed it down onto the spider-shaped puppet beneath his feet.

A beam of spiritual light shone from the puppet as Song Jiao quickly leaped off.

“Is this the puppet that you made?” asked Chen Jingzhai curiously as he looked at the spider puppet.

“It is just something I made during practice,” replied Song Jiao bashfully. “Master-Uncle, please inspect it.”

“Bring it on!” answered Chen Jingzhai as he nodded his head.

In order to create puppets, the disciples of Puppet Hall spared no expense.

Even then, it was extremely difficult to create a suitable puppet.

Song Jiao had just become an inner disciple, and he could already create his own puppet.

Even though the puppet seemed stiff, shabby, and needed to be activated with a Heavenly Hammer, it was still a true puppet.

This was enough evidence of Song Jiao’s talent.

“Master-Uncle, watch out!” said Song Jiao as he instantly formed a seal.

On the Eight Trigrams Platform, the spider puppet opened its mouth, and a dense cloud of poison needles shot out.

The poison needles were fine and small. They were odorless and flew out at high speed.

In the blink of an eye, a vast number of them appeared before Chen Jingzhai.

Chen Jingzhai did not reveal a panicked expression as he gently extended his left hand forward.

The air trembled slightly. The poison needles then appeared as though they had sunk into mud.

The speed of the needles slowed down, and they eventually came to a stop in mid-air.

Chen Jingzhai analyzed, “The speed of the needles is decent, and the use of poison is commendable. However, there are too many of them. If you wish to catch someone by surprise, one needle will do, or even one after another.”

He continued, “What other abilities does your puppet have? Let’s have a look!”

As he said this, he drew a circle in front of him with his left hand.

The poison needles before him were swept away to a corner of the Eight Trigrams Platform.

Song Jiao had a serious expression as he formed another seal and continued to control the spider puppet.

The puppet crawled across the floor with its eight legs, charging toward Chen Jingzhai swiftly.

Halfway toward the latter, the puppet’s limbs shot out toward him.

Chen Jingzhai leaped up gently and stepped on one of the puppet’s limbs with one foot.

Unexpectedly, the puppet’s limbs split apart, revealing a dense flurry of knives.

These knives were very intricate and were even magic item grade.

Just like the poison needles, there were a lot of knives.

Chen Jingzhai raised his eyebrows slightly as his body swayed and dodged the attack.

Right then, another limb of the puppet shot up into the sky.

The spider puppet could still move and even sped up as it came crashing toward Chen Jingzhai.

He could not dodge. He sent out a palm strike, and a stream of water shot out.

The stream of water spiraled in the air, forming the shape of a dragon.

It gently lashed out with its tail and sent the razor-sharp blades flying.

With another swipe, it knocked the limb away as well.

Just as the spider puppet was about to reach Chen Jingzhai, he flew through the air and dashed toward Song Jiao.

However, a spider web shot out from a hole on the spider puppet’s back.

The web immediately enveloped Chen Jingzhai.

“Not bad!” praised Chen Jingzhai as he nodded his head. His figure then disappeared without a trace.

When the web missed its mark, Song Jiao’s facial expression changed drastically. He waved his Heavenly Hammer and then smashed it down behind him.

Unfortunately, Chen Jingzhai was faster, immediately inhibiting Song Jiao with a Restriction.

“Master-Uncle?” exclaimed Song Jiao as he revealed a gloomy look.

“It was a good effort,” said Chen Jingzhai with a smile. “However, you still have to pay attention to a few points.”

“Master-Uncle, please advise!” said Song Jiao as he adjusted his mindset.

Chen Jingzhai said, “If you wish to catch your opponent off guard, you need to focus the power of your attack. If you wish to focus on numbers, you need to have a trump card hidden. You did not manage to achieve either one of these. You merely focused on numbers. It is such a waste.”

He suggested, “Since you prepared poison needles, why didn’t you prepare poison mist? Since you made the limbs of your puppet detachable, why didn’t you send the knives shooting out? Since you prepared a web, why didn’t you prepare more webs?

“Of course, most importantly, why didn’t you prepare defenses for yourself?”

Chen Jingzhai put on the airs of a Master-Uncle and kept questioning Song Jiao.

Song Jiao’s face turned pale from the questioning, and he began to sweat profusely.

With a teary look, he said, “Master-Uncle, if I make all these changes, I won’t have a single spiritual stone left.”

Chen Jingzhai had a stunned expression, then he said exasperatedly, “Then do what you can. Why did you make such a large puppet? Wouldn’t it be better to make it more intricate? You could have given it more speed and lowered your opponent’s guard.”

“I understand, Master-Uncle!” said Song Jiao with a contemplative look. “I admit defeat!”

As he said this, Song Jiao and Chen Jingzhai both disappeared.

When he once again appeared at the top seat of the battle forum, Chen Jingzhai took up his jade token.

There were two dots on his jade token. This was his cumulative win count.

“Thank you, Master-Uncle, for instructing Song Jiao,” said Zhang Kui to the side.

“We are all from the same sect. So there is no need to be polite,” said Chen Jingzhai as he waved his hand. “I also like puppets. But, sadly, I cannot spare any time for them. I also know that puppet masters have to spend a lot to make their puppets, but there are workarounds for that.”

“Are you referring to making more intricate puppets?” said Zhang Kui with a contemplative look.

“That is right,” said Chen Jingzhai as he nodded. “A palm-sized puppet that is easily carried around and that can spit fire, spew poison, shoot icicles, burrow underground, or send out exploding needles will be able to overwhelm the enemy. If one focuses on the puppet’s speed until it can match that of a flying sword, it would be very powerful.”

“However, wouldn’t the puppet become too specialized?” asked Zhang Kui. “The more intricate the puppet, the higher the requirements to create them. We are only at the Foundation Establishment Plane!”

“If you want to save materials, you need to improve your craft. That is inevitable,” said Chen Jingzhai as he laughed indifferently.

He explained, “As for whether the puppet is specialized, what is wrong with that? A specialized puppet can become a trump card if its might is sufficient. It can even be sold for a high price.”

“For instance, I need a puppet that can enhance my divine mind’s sensory ability. However, I only need it to be the size of a mosquito. I have no other requirements for it.”

He proposed, “If Disciple Nephew Zhang can make one at the magic item grade, I will pay 10,000 spiritual stones for it. If you can make one at the Spiritual Qi Grade, I will pay you 150,000 spiritual stones for it.”

Once he said this, there was an uproar amongst the disciples nearby.

Even the sword branch disciples looked at their Little Master-Uncle in astonishment.

This was their first encounter with the lavishness of their Little Master-Uncle.